The Diplomat
The Spanish government yesterday rejected “in the strongest terms” the 15-year prison sentence handed down by a Belarusian court against opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who is a refugee in Lithuania.
In its Twitter account, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “Spain condemns in the strongest terms the decision to sentence to prison Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski, and other human rights defenders and members of the democratic opposition”.
“We demand once again – added the department headed by José Manuel Albares – the immediate release of all persons illegally detained in Belarus. Spain supports the democratic aspirations of the Belarusian people”.
A court in Minsk on Monday sentenced former presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who is in exile following strong protests after the controversial presidential elections of August 2020, to 15 years in prison ‘in absentia’.
Along with Tikhanovskaya, opposition leader and former culture minister Pavel Latushka was also convicted and is now facing an 18-year prison sentence and a five-year disqualification from holding any public office, according to the state news agency BelTA.
In addition, three other people -Maria Moroz, Olga Kovalkova and Sergei Dilevski– linked to Lukashenko’s alternative opposition council, have been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
All the defendants were found guilty of “conspiring to seize power in an unconstitutional manner”, leading an “extremist formation” and harming Belarus’ national security, the court said, adding that Tikhanovskaya, however, was also convicted of “treason against the state” and Latushka of abuse of power and bribery.
In addition, they were convicted of “deliberately” carrying out actions to “incite discord and public disorder on ideological grounds”.
The prosecution was seeking a 19-year prison sentence for the influential opposition figure, who is President Alexander Lukashenko’s main rival in the 2020 elections. Tikhanovskaya declared herself the country’s “national leader” after accusing Lukashenko of committing “treason”. She has been based in Lithuania since the post-election crisis began.
Several days ago, the court also sentenced Alés Bialiatski, the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize winner and renowned human rights activist, to ten years in prison, according to infiorm Viasna, the organisation of which he is president.
Bialiatski, 60, was imprisoned after the anti-Lukashenko demonstrations in 2020 and was accused along with other activists of financing actions against public order and smuggling by an organised group.
